Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 27TH MARCH - 2ND APRIL 2020 | 5 "We haven't had a complete shutdown like this and we don't really know how many people will get sick" Justin Bowden, national secretary, GMB, on how wider testing for coronavirus would help maintain staffing levels. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said he cannot "give a cast iron guarantee" that the COP26 summit will take place in Glasgow later this year as planned because of the spiralling coronavirus crisis. He said the timing of UN's showcase climate change event, due to take place in November, is "under review". (See Political Agenda, p9). WATER Reservoirs and water parks close The water sector has responded to social distancing during the coronavirus crisis by closing many outdoor assets. Across the sector, companies have also been offering reassurances that services will remain intact and that vulnerable customers will be prioritised. Customers are being urged to register as vulnerable with their water company to be eligible for additional assistance, particularly those that would not have previously considered they fitted the category. Northumbrian has decided to close its open spaces to discourage the public from making unnecessary journeys away from their homes. Similarly, Yorkshire and Anglian have shut the car parks at their reservoirs and are asking people to "stay away for a little while". See coronavirus report, p10 ENERGY Networks react to coronavirus threat A number of electricity and gas net- work operators have issued updates on the measures they have taken to prepare for and prevent the further spread of coronavirus in the UK. They include cancelling non- essential maintenance work to minimise disruption to the millions of people around the country now working from home. UK Power Networks, for example, said it was "postponing lower priority work on electricity cables and substations", while assuring customers that "all essential work will continue, including fixing power cuts on the rare occasions they happen". Cadent, meanwhile, said it would assess whether a property was infected before carrying out a home visit (more, p10). ENERGY Npower losses soar as customers desert it Npower has reported a sharp decline in earnings during 2019 a‰er customers continued to leave the supplier in droves. The company lost almost one in six of its domestic and commercial customers – electricity customer numbers fell by 346,000 to 2.11 mil- lion and gas customers by 266,000 to 1.37 million. The figures were revealed by its parent company Innogy in its finan- cial results for the year. The sup- plier's losses in terms of adjusted earnings before interest and tax grew from €72 million to €206 mil- lion. When discounting depreciation and amortisation they increased from €21 million to €159 million. This was despite a nearly 12 per cent year-on-year rise in revenues to €7,896 million. How will coronavirus change the utilities sector? Today (Friday) Utility Week launches a weekly Ask us Anything webinar series, inviting readers to raise, anonymously, their thoughts, concerns and opportunities about the current coronavirus situation that they would like our network of experts to discuss. The first panel, from 11.45am to 12.30pm on 27 March, includes former Ofgem executive Maxine Frerk and Nick Ellins, chief executive of Energy & Utility Skills group. Questions will remain open throughout the broadcast. For details visit https://utilityweek.co.uk/askusanything-will-coronavirus-change-utilities-sector/ New chief executive for Smart Energy GB Smart Energy GB has appointed Dan Brooke as its new chief executive. Brooke joins the organisation from his own consultancy and previously worked for nine years at Channel 4, where he was chief marketing and communications officer and board champion for diversity and inclusion. He holds a number of other board and advisory roles, includ- ing being chair of the British Independent Film Awards and UK Government Sector Champion for Disability Employment. He is also a member of the International Para- lympic Committee Global Brand Advisory Group. APPOINTMENTS

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